


As Dogs Nip at Our Heels (Part 2)

by Bluerain1984



Series: Strangers in a Strange Land [6]
Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: But not enough for explicit or mature, Damien needs more confidence, Did I mention lots of hot kissing, Kissing, M/M, Mary is a Good Friend, Misunderstandings, Robert is more romantic than he seems, Search Parties, Self Esteem Issues, Sexual Tension, suggestive banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 18:47:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11720307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluerain1984/pseuds/Bluerain1984
Summary: 'As the woman was circling the round-about, she asked Damien, “So, you two boned yet?”“I- I beg your pardon!?”“You two,” she said, her voice entering its teasing tones, “Have. You. Boned. Yet?”“That—that is private and none of your business,” Damien told her, which only earned him her ostentatious laughter. But his long-time friend did not question him further, and eventually they had returned to the animal shelter.'





	As Dogs Nip at Our Heels (Part 2)

**Author's Note:**

> The second part! How will their chase end? Read on.

Their search was proving rather daunting, even with Betsy ‘sniffing out the trail,’ as it were. She had led them to the Coffee Spoon’s back dumpster, where they met with the proprietor, their neighbor Mat Sella. He informed them of The Duchess’s theft of banana bread, and after giving them two of the remaining slices of the baked good (one for The Duchess, of course, and one for Betsy’s, at Robert’s insistence), the three were back to the hunt. Damien’s mind and belly were in constant turmoil the whole while. He was still absolutely worried for the canine they sought, but also dreading the end of their venture, knowing Robert would likely end their courtship, now that Damien’s true self had been revealed. Still, he tried not to let his ever deepening despair show.

And likely he was failing, for, as they arrived at the park, Robert turned to him. “Hey.”

Damien turned toward him, but did not meet his eyes, still. He had avoided them this entire time. “Yes?”

“You got leaves in your hair.”

“What?” Damien exclaimed. Oh, naturally, from those bushes. What had he been thinking? Aside from wanting to hide? He reached up to pick the foliage out of his hair.

“You’re missin’ some. Hang on.” Robert stepped close, and Damien froze as the other man pulled a few leaves from his ponytail. The proximity caused Damien to have to look into Robert’s face, before he averted his gaze again.

“Th-Thank you,” Damien muttered.

“Hey,” Robert said, his voice a bit hard. “What’s wrong with you? Did I get herpes on my face or somethin’? Am I gross now?”

“What are you talking about?” Damien asked.

“You won’t look at me! Not up at my face, anyway. I thought you liked my face.”

“I--,” Damien’s lungs felt empty for a moment as he jerked his head upward, properly looking at Robert’s face, now, at his dark eyes. He could have been imagining it, but along with annoyance, there was…sadness? “I do,” Damien finally managed to say. “I do like it. I like everything about you.”

“Then why’re you keepin’ five feet between us?”

Damien pulled his bottom lip up between his teeth before releasing the flesh and said, “I’m… I never wanted you to see me like this. You enjoy my Gothic persona so greatly, I was… unsure how you would take this part of me.” Anyone would be disappointed, would they not?

Robert let out a huff, and Damien saw, from the corner of his eye, the man’s tattooed left hand rising up to grab his shoulder.

A bark from Betsy made them both look away. She was half-way across the park, now, bounding off.

“Shit,” Robert said, “C’mon, before we lose my dog, too,” He looked over his shoulder to add, “We’re not done talkin’, sweetheart!”

Damien’s chest felt light for the first time since their search together began. Robert was still using one of his pet names. Maybe… Maybe there could be hope.

* * *

 

Robert wanted to kick himself. He usually never let go of Betsy’s leash when she was on a scent trail—the terrier was faster than people gave the old girl credit for, even him—and couldn’t believe he’d done it, even for Dames. But, damn it, didn’t that pretty idiot realize?

He’d think about that later. He finally caught up to Betsy, even though he was fighting the beginnings of a catch in his right side, and he snatched up her leash.

“Gotcha! Don’t run off like that without me, girl,” he told her as she fought against his hand’s hold. “We’re in this together, remember?” He looked in the direction she was attempting to go in, and he frowned. “She’s takin’ us back to the cul-de-sac.”

“Could she have lost her way?” Damien asked.

“Never,” Robert said. He kept hold of the leash, but didn’t stop Betsy from pulling him on toward their street, again. As they got there, they noticed one thing wrong with the otherwise peaceful picture their neighborhood painted. “Vega’s door is open.”

“Oh dear!” Damien cried as he hurried to the Vega household. “I hope we haven’t missed Duchess this time.” The younger man ran ahead to the open door.

“I hope we don’t get the cops called on us,” Robert said. Betsy’s barks were getting more manic. Why was she acting this way? Even while following squirrels, she didn’t get this aggressive. Damien went into the house first, and as Robert came up. “Babe?” he called to Damien, “Babe, I’ve got a bad—”

“Be careful!” Damien called, “Don’t bring Betsy inside!”

Too late. Betsy was right at the door and she was snarling and barking at something Robert was sure was more bear than dog. It was so huge it looked as if it could devour his own dog whole and still have room for a Volkswagen.

“The hell is that?!” Robert shouted, grabbing at Betsy’s collar and tugging her close to hold her against him. She whined and continued to bark. The other animal, in turn, made thunder-clap like barks at Betsy.

“This is Duchess Cordelia,” Damien told him before turning back to the beast. “Duchess,” he said to it, his voice sing-song, and coaxing. “Oh, Duchess, darling, don’t be frightened! What happened to our rapport? Calm down.” He glanced over his shoulder at Robert. “Take Betsy outside, I need to calm her.”

“You gotta calm _her_?” Robert asked.

“Robert. Please,” Damien said, his tone stern and… Yeah, as much as he liked it, he couldn’t afford to get distracted right now. Instead, he did what he was told and took Betsy back outside the house, and tied her to a porch post. She whined as she realized what he was doing.

“Sorry, girl,” Robert told her, pressing his hand to her head in an attempt to calm her down. “I’ve gotta keep you safe, okay? Now Daddy’s gotta go save his damn boyfriend.” He dashed back into the house and saw that ‘Duchess’ had calmed down a little with Betsy gone…but she wasn’t coming any closer to Damien.

“Duchess, don’t make me cross,” Damien told her, his tone less gentle and sweet and more commanding.

Robert fumbled around in the pockets of his jacket and pulled out one of the banana bread slices, then whistled at the dog. “Hey! Hey, Pretty Lady,” he called to her, pealing the cling-wrap off the baked good. “Lookie here; gotcha a treat.” He knelt down, holding the slice out. Duchess looked from Damien to him. Good start. He stayed on his spot, whistling again. “Yeah, just for you, Gal,” he said, attempting to make his voice as enticing as possible, while trying not to shit bricks; that dog was as big as HIM. Hell, she could probably beat up Craig, for all she was so massive. How was this considered a ‘puppy’

His tone and his bribe seemed to be working. Duchess started walking toward him. When she was right beside Damien, Robert gave the bread a little toss, and the slice landed right near her front paws. She dropped her head to sniff. Picked it up to drop it again (why the hell did every dog do that? Even Betsy did that), then she started eating.

Dames took the opportunity snap the leash he’d been carrying with him this whole time onto her collar, and the enormous dog let out a sudden, ear-splitting whine. Was everything this thing did twice as bad as a normal dog?

“Duchess, please,” Damien pleaded to her, “Don’t make a further fuss! We’re already likely in enough trouble.”

“The FUCK you assholes doing in here?”

The two men turned and there was Vega’s teenaged brat, glaring at them as he took his headphones off his head. Seriously? Those things blocked out all the noise they were making? They made better shit these days, apparently. The kid’s other hand was holding a plate of food.

“I knew you weirdos were bad,” the kid said, “I’m calling the cops.”

“Wait a moment!” Damien cried out, “This isn’t—we can explain!” As Damien had attempted to try and talk to the teenager, Duchess got loose from him, and she leapt at the boy. Damien shrieked at the same time that the kid screamed, and Robert jumped forward, shoving Damien out of the way to reach toward the dog and get him off the boy…

And stopped mid-lunge to hear laughter. The dog was taking turns gobbling up the things that had been on the plate, and licking at the brat’s face.

“Wow!” the kid said between his giggles. “This dog is so cool! She likes pizza rolls! Where’d she come from? Is she yours? Damn, I wish I had a dog.” Duchess seemed to have fallen for the kid almost instantly. Robert settled back a bit and looked at Damien, who was just as stunned as him at what they were seeing.

“Her name…is Duchess Cordelia,” Damien said, answering one of the kid’s questions.

“That’s BAD ASS!” the kid declared.

“Sweet Manchego!!” shouted a much older, less enthusiastic voice behind them. Robert and Damien both turned, and Vega Senior was standing at the busted door, looking like he was about to blow.

“What,” Vega asked, “Is going on in here? Why are there dogs inside, and outside of my house, and why is my lock broken?!”

Robert took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. Time to toss out some charm and get them out of a minor felony.

* * *

 

Damien was still quite unsure how things had gone so… Well, so smoothly! All right, not smoothly, per say, but still the events of the afternoon ended on a far happier note than he was expecting. Once Hugo had seen how enamored young Ernest and Duchess Cordelia were with one another, and heard Robert’s version of events concerning the chase for the Duchess, he had been willing to let them take her back to the shelter, without the need to call the police, and Robert’s promise to replace the broken locks himself. But, before they left, Ernest had begged his father to let them keep the loving Mastiff. They had all been rather shocked to hear the boy call his father ‘Dad,’ when everyone who knew the Vegas had only ever heard the young lad call Hugo by his given name. It had been no less than a miracle.

With this, and Robert extoling Hugo on the joys of dog ownership, and after a call to Mary to ask for an adoption form, Duchess was left with the Vegas, the whole escapade was at an end. As they were leaving the house, Robert retrieved Betsy from the post where he had tied her.

“Sorry about that, Girl,” Robert said to his dog, cooing at her even more sweetly than usual. “Daddy won’t do that again, I promise.” Damien felt a twinge of jealousy at Robert’s sweetness to the canine… and immediately felt ashamed for it. He should be glad Robert wasn’t addressing their earlier conversation, yet. But his thoughts were interrupted as Robert came up to him.

“So.”

Damien looked at him, then took his glasses off to clean them, giving him an excuse not to look at him, again. “Ah…thank you, Robert, for your help. I doubt this could have gone so well without your assistance.”

“Eh, I nearly fucked it up,” Robert countered. “Lettin’ Betsy in there with that… I thought Mary was jokin’ about the werewolf thing!”

“Only slightly,” Mary called. She was leaning on her car. “But she’s a big push-over once you get to know her. Hey, Dames, let’s get in and take this form back to the shelter. I’ve gotta make arrangements for the adoption fee, anyway.”

“Mary, I can—”

“Let me take Betsy home,” Robert interjected. “I’ll pay it.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Mary said.

“I wanna,” Robert told her. “Hell, I wanna know if you’ve got any more monsters in that place, pretendin’ to be house pets. I’m the one who keeps this town safe from all the cryptids, after all.”

“Fine,” Mary said, rolling her eyes, waving a hand. “Go do that, we’ll be waiting.” Damien watched Robert take Betsy across the way to his home, then joined Mary in her car.

As the woman was circling the round-about, she asked Damien, “So, you two boned yet?”

“I- I beg your pardon!?”

“You two,” she said, her voice entering its teasing tones, “Have. You. Boned. Yet?”

“That—that is private and none of your business,” Damien told her, which only earned him her ostentatious laughter. But his long-time friend did not question him further, and eventually they had returned to the animal shelter. Robert joined them a short time later, and did indeed put up the adoption fee they had waved the Vegas in exchange for not calling the authorities.

While Mary was putting the money and the documentation away, Damien said, “I’ll go and ensure the other animals are secure.”

“I’ve got it,” Mary told him, “I think you two need a good talk.”

“Yeah, I got somethin’ to discuss with my partner in crime,” Robert added. Damien could feel perspiration beginning to seep from his skin. He hunched his shoulders up until they were nearly at his ears, and waited in painful silence as Mary finished the clerical duties, and vanished into the back of the building toward the kennels.

Both men remained silent for quite a time before Robert grunted, possibly to draw Damien’s attention. Damien let out a long sigh. “I suppose… You will want to cease our association.”

“What?”

“I can’t blame you,” Damien said, “Seeing how I truly am, in such contrast to the image I want to give.” He drew up courage from his core to look at Robert’s face, eye to eye, this time not going to allow anything to make him turn away, “But I want you to know that these last few weeks have been most wondrous I’ve experienced in many years!” He blinked as he felt the sting of oncoming tears. “So, Robert, I ask that you--”

“Hold it,” Robert said, placing a finger against Damien’s mouth. The older man’s hand quickly flipped and grabbed Damien’s ample chin, holding his head in place. “Who said I was breakin’ up with you?”

“I… I assumed…”

“‘Assume’ makes an ass of you and me,” Robert told him. “Unless I tell you to fuck off, or say we’re done, we ain’t done. Have I said any of that?”

Damien thought back through the day. “You were upset that I canceled our date.”

“Cause you didn’t tell me why.”

“You were angry that I’ve been duplicitous…”

“I was annoyed that you were actin’ like I’d caught the plague or somthin’ and wouldn’t talk to me or even look at me.” Robert’s hand slid around to cup the back of Damien’s head. “Baby, we all got shit to hide. If this is the ‘worst’ you got, we’re golden.” The dark skinned man smiled. “I’ve been with bigger nerds and worse people than you, Dames. You’re somethin’ I haven’t ever seen before.”

“…What?”

“Honest,” Robert said to him. “And this,” he said, ducking his head briefly to run his eyes over Damien’s appearance, “It’s kinda cute.”

Damien’s lips turned downward in a pout, “I’m not ‘cute’.”

“Now you’re just bein’ modest.” Robert drew Damien’s head near and placed his dry lips to Damien’s forehead. The younger man’s heart, which had already been steadily speeding up due to Robert’s words (the precise opposites of what he had been expecting to receive), now was pounding so hard against his breast that he feared it may break through his ribs. Damien shut his eyes, leaning into the press of lips and scratch of stubble. When Robert pulled away, it was only to say, “I don’t wanna end this. Do you?”

Damien’s eyes half-opened as he looked at Robert’s mouth. “No.”

“All right then,” Robert murmured. He closed the gap between them, again, this time taking Damien’s mouth. Damien felt lighter than a cloud. It was as if he had grown wings; he wanted to lift away in this feeling! He put his arms around Robert’s neck, while his lover’s other hand took Damien’s hip. As their ravenous lips sought each other, Robert pushed Damien toward the reception desk. Feeling the edge hit his rear, Damien pulled his mouth away, and attempted not to pant.

“This,” he breathed, “Is neither the time nor the place.”

“I dunno,” Robert said, his voice a deep rumble that made Damien’s whole body vibrate. “I could put you over and—”

Damien mimicked Robert’s action earlier, placing fingertips against the older man’s mouth. “We shall save this for later,” Damien told him, doing his best to be firm. He wanted Robert. Terribly. Absolutely. But not in a public space, where security cameras were running as they spoke.

“Fine,” Robert agreed. He stepped back, his hands leaving Damien, and already the younger man felt a little colder without his dearest’s body near. “I’ll be waitin’.”

Damien adjusted his glasses, which had gone slightly askew during their kissing, and made his way to the kennels. He turned a bit to watch Robert exit the building, the other man glancing at him and giving a wink.

Perseverance, he told himself. Perseverance and patience.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry to leave you all hanging AGAIN! This chapter was going to include more and be 'Explicit', but the amount I wanted to shove in would have made it even longer than their second date's fic. And I like drawing out good bits, mwahahaha! Anyway, that means there WILL be smut in the next portion. So keep a look out.
> 
> Kudos are appreciated and much loved, comments are always, always, ALWAYS welcome and help make me a better writer. Later, dears.


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